Season 3 Episode 2: How to Double Down on Your Customer Service Post-Pandemic

Welcome back to our Second (2) Episode of 2021 Drink Like a Lady 

Last week, we looked back at 2020 and shared examples of companies, industries that GREW during the pandemic.

This week we focus on CUSTOMER SERVICE and how that has changed

Last week I interviewed the CEO and Founder of Silk + Sonder. She talked about doubling down on customer service. Your existing customers, this who already converted are GOLD

SO what’s changed about customer service

1. 59% of consumers will care more about their customer experience than they did pre COVID when deciding which companies to support or buy from.
2. And, if you are a business, this means that there is very little room for mistakes heading into 2021. ANY friction is a customer’s journey can cause a loss in potential revenue (Life time value of a customer), and a potential gain to competitors.When you consider that 80% of consumers will switch to another company after just ONE poor customer experience, this opens the door for companies to not only compete on pricing and product bu

What can you consider doing now: WE SHARE 3 KEY THINGS

EMPOWER YOUR AGENTS

1. If in a company with a separate customer service department- you will need a GREATER FOCUS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF AGENT EXPERIENCE.

a) To be truly successful, companies need to see their agent experience as a valuable part of the customer experience.

b) The agent experience is defined as the view of how empowerment, efficient, and effective a company’s customer service agent is. As in the case with almost any department in a company, prioritizing your team and staying in touch with the employees and their morale is the only true way to ensure positive reactions from your customers.

c) It is as simple as this. Happy agents=happy customers.

d) How do you facilitate greater Agent Experience?  HERE'S HOW

  i.      Better tools in software programs

  ii.      Enhanced training

   iii.      More accessible customer data

  iv.      Specific and relevant feedback that’s based on context and specific conversations.

 v.      Clear process documentation and flexible guidelines that empower agents to prioritize customer outcomes over their own performance metrics.

What can you be doing now: OMNICHANNEL COMMUNICATION

1. Omnichannel communication will be everything.
   • Customers need direct access to companies
   • Unlike years prior, this new type of conversational commerce is much bigger than just offering live chat.   Facebook, What’sApp, email, phone, text, etc.
   • The right strategy will allow you to deliver a unified. Budgets need to support these channels aggressively.
   • Consider the customer’s experience from start to finish. The customer journey

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Transcript

Drink Like A Lady Podcast with Kathie De-Chirico Stuart & Joya Dass Season #3 Ep 2

Speaker 1 (00:01):

Hi friends. It is time for the drink, like a lady podcasts, which is designed to get you a seat at the bar and be as equally adept at getting a seat in the boardroom. This is designed for women and I'm going to be joined very soon here with my partner in crime. Week-to-week Cathy to Checo Stewart, who is a business strategist. And this week we are talking about customer service in episode one season three last week, we talked about where are the growth opportunities? When we look in the rear view mirror of 2020, and we realize where there was some real opportunities in the companies that leverage those opportunities. We talked about the restaurant industry. We talked about grocery, the grocery industry. We talked about a lot of, um, we talked about the fitness industry, all of the places that we're able to leverage and pull any leavers that they had to be able to pivot and create a new ecosystem or a new consumer market. So this week we're going to actually focus on customer service, and we're going to be focusing on what you can be doing to double down on your customer service Island princess. Nice to see you. I'm going to give you a wave as I'm waiting for Kathy to chair coaster to join me here.

Speaker 1 (01:16):

Oh, Juanita. Sorry. I realized that that's your name? So one of the things that we're going to be talking about right off the bat is what is it that people want, like in terms of customer service, how has people's needs change dramatically? And I can say from somebody who orders from Amazon every single day, they have got their customer service and their delivery down. Pat. I'm also somebody who is, um, trying to get my furniture, variety of vendors, including West Elm and, uh, resource furniture. And I can tell you that it's been a little bit painful in terms of being able to get the kind of customer service I want, Kathy, how are you? Oh, good. Julia, how are you? I'm good. You know, last week I was a little wobbly coming off of a wrestling with COVID, but this week I'm back in the saddle and I feel good about that.

Speaker 1 (02:08):

Oh, good, good. That's what we want to hear. I was just starting to tell our audience that last week we looked in the rear view mirror and saw where the real growth opportunities were for 2020 and the industries that did it well. And in episode two, season three, we're talking about customer service and I was going to actually tee you up to talk about what's changed about customer service. I know for me, in general rent, the runway has gotten it right. Amazon's got it right in terms of customer service and deliverability, but what's changed for the consumer. Well, the consumer now demands, you know, their highest expectations. They have nothing else going on in their life except to, to want what they want and need it when they need it. And that has totally changed. So the minute you make one mistake and that's all we're going to talk about is that the end of this, you make one little mistake. They'll find someone else who will rebuild, able to replace you in a heartbeat. Um, and that's

Speaker 2 (02:59):

Why John is doing it. So, yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:01):

Well, I think you shared that 59% of consumers care more about their experience now than they did before. COVID and that influencing where they buy from and what they buy. And then also when you consider who has done it wrong, 80% of consumers will switch to another company after just one poor customer service experience.

Speaker 2 (03:26):

Those are very high statistics. It's something that everyone really has to look at. And like you said, what, what I have even found is that even the smaller companies, even your smaller services, now I'm getting almost after every appointment I make, I'm getting a survey. How did we do never in the past, have I gotten so much of those, uh, from even the small service,

Speaker 1 (03:46):

Right? Cause how are you going to iterate if you don't know what you're doing wrong.

Speaker 1 (03:51):

Sharing today, what you can be doing right now to double down on your customer service and we're sharing three key ways. Number one is the customer service is so closely tied to the agent experience. So if you empower your agents, now you're empowering them to have a better experience with your customer. So to really be, um, to really be successful, Kathy, you had to see those two things aligned.

Speaker 2 (04:15):

What's really important is to understand that you are actually empowering. You're the front face of your company through your agents, whether it's an agent of one or whether or not it's an agent of 50 or more on that. So we're going to go through today. We're going to create some focus on what's the importance and what are some of the key components that you can do for them in order to facilitate that empowerment?

Speaker 1 (04:37):

Well, number one is to bring in better tools and software programs so that you can track and measure

Speaker 2 (04:43):

That's correct. Number two

Speaker 1 (04:45):

Is enhanced training for those agents. Like what to say, what not to say, what do you do when someone's totally losing it? Or, you know, what,

Speaker 2 (04:54):

And how many individuals actually did that last year? And it had nothing to do with the agent it had to do with how they were feeling. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (05:01):

You almost had a little bit of a therapist. I would imagine in some ways, for some people, um, more accessible customer data, why is that so important and empowering an agent to be better at their job?

Speaker 2 (05:12):

Well, I mean, let's go back to what you brought up with Amazon. Who's figured it out. You go onto the Amazon site. I mean, I have never talked to anyone. Amazon, would you combine it where your order is, where it's tracking, how many sites away is it? Was it late, um, and specific the minute you placed the order. So that type of data is what individuals are looking for. They want you to come back and remember who they are. So that type of data analysis that ties into the overall strategy of customer service is so key.

Speaker 1 (05:40):

I went into best buy this week because my computer decided to plumb, just quit. And the modality of shopping has changed. You're no longer allowed to just roam free through the Isles. You have to stand in line and someone has to take you one by one through the shopping experience, which frankly I would have preferred from the very, but the person just sat me down and understood what my storage needs were understood. What kind of memory needs I had, what was I going to be doing with this computer? And I'm going to, I'm going to write this person a raving review because they were knowledgeable. And they wanted to make sure that I made the right decision for me, even though that the product that he recommended was different than the one I wanted. He was like, all right, whatever you need, you know, whatever you need, we're going to make that happen for you.

Speaker 2 (06:23):

I think about how many other stores can do the exact same thing. If they decide they're going to get out of their customer service model that they thought worked in the past, what's come up out of all of this is a lot of this didn't work, but we just had, you know, we were just, I guess, um, compensating for the fact that, well we could go in and we could do whatever we wanted, but now it's even more so as we go in one by one into these stores and there's numbered people in there

Speaker 1 (06:48):

For Christians just joining us and Molly, who's just joined us. We are talking today about how to double down on customer service and how can you ensure that whoever you're dealing with, whether you have a product or a service is getting the best in customer service. So we're talking about empowering your agents or whoever is on the front lines, dealing with your customers and how you in turn empower them. So one of them was to was better tools and software programs. Number two is enhanced training. Number three is more customer data, which is always valuable. And then feedback that's specific to the context as well as specific conversations. Kathy, what does that mean?

Speaker 2 (07:26):

So there you go. That's where the surveys come in. And, um, you know, in that survey taking tool, what will happen is they'll do a, a filtering process. Where is it that it seems that, um, the agent is getting off track or the consumer is getting off track in terms of where their satisfaction lies. So filtering all that information and make sure that you go back in and you're constantly re-editing. Um, and then that goes to, I guess, for the last one, and that's a clear process, and that's all part of the process measuring the success of how those training programs are

Speaker 1 (07:58):

And have it like a central holding ground where all of that can be found, referenced resource, if you need to.

Speaker 2 (08:04):

Exactly. Exactly. So

Speaker 1 (08:06):

For those of you that are just joining, we're talking about doubling down on customer service and how you can have stellar customer service. If you don't already, uh, number one, we shared a key ways to empower your agents, but Cathy number two is omni-channel communication. What does that word mean?

Speaker 2 (08:22):

Well, you know, we used to talk about omni-channel deliveries for our product, and now we're talking about a total three 60 communication, and that is, they want you to be wherever they're going to be communicating any place it, so if everyone thinks Oh, Facebook or Instagram or WhatsApp, or, you know, their e-commerce site or the chatbots that go on, that's no longer, you can just put all of your eggs in one basket. You really need to take a look at a holistic point of view on that.

Speaker 1 (08:50):

And so that means that companies need direct access to you. So now WhatsApp has a functionality or you can set up what's that business. So customers can talk to you directly. You know, I think that's what you mean by that. And then this conversational commerce, it has to be on many different fronts, phone, email, chat, chat bot. Um, what do you just in your sort of comings and goings, where do you feel like this conversational commerce has come cause come into play?

Speaker 2 (09:18):

Yeah, I think what it really realized is that there are so many, um, demographics that where we now, the, even the older generation where they weren't comfortable doing a lot of this Omni channel communication and the younger generation was what has occurred now is that they've got to figure it out because they cannot lose one customer. Um, I think you actually talked about this in a conversation we had about that customer is gold and keep them no matter where they are, not where you are.

Speaker 1 (09:47):

I've noticed, uh, we just got our coffee table after many, many months yesterday. It finally arrived from Italy, but I went back on the site because I couldn't figure out how to convert it from the coffee table to the dining table, which is the whole reason we waited 16 weeks for this contraption. And so I went on the website and looked at the video that shows you how you unraveled the table in order to be able to make it to a dining table. And immediately a chatbot came up saying, how can I help you? So in real time there they're responding to me, even though I had nothing to really ask them those chat bots and those agents are standing by. So I think that that speaks to what you mean by this omni-channel communication.

Speaker 2 (10:23):

And there you see, you see the technology immediately kicking in at that point. And sometimes, you know, I find it may be a little distracting for me. So I'll say, no, thank you. You know, I've got this covered. Um, and then the other times when I do have a key question, it has to go deeper that chat bot actually helps take you there and then, you know, points you in the right direction.

Speaker 1 (10:44):

And then the final piece is the customer journey. And this is something that's interesting to look at, even retrospectively, like, how did your customer find you? How did that customer's journey come to be a converted person? And then when you look at that, can you see the gaps? Can you see where there's redundancy?

Speaker 2 (11:02):

What's driven important is a lot of companies. And I I've done this at several companies and especially the one I remember we were there. So key on this was at the wall street journal part of news Corp. And we actually went through this with each one of the segments and departments of business. So you take that and you take a look at where there may be that gap and where it may sit into another part of the other strategy of the products. And it's a wonderful thing because when you start being able to take a look at that journey, even on your own, um, you know, on your own track, you realize where you're failing and then you're able to reinvest your dollars in your budget in a way that actually supports where you're going.

Speaker 1 (11:42):

And I'm Sadiq is just joining us right now. And, um, we are talking today on the drink, like a lady podcast about doubling down on customer service. And the number one way that we talked about is really your agent, because your agents experience parallels with the customer experience. The second is omni-channel communication. It's not enough to just be, you know, have a Facebook page or have a chat bot you customers demand and expect to be able to talk to you directly and be able to engage you on text or email or any other way, and get an answer back right away too. And then the final piece Cathy is to involve your CEO. Customer service is going to play a much bigger role, even at the C level in 2021,

Speaker 2 (12:25):

Because customers really want to, they want to know who they're investing in, why they want to know what that leadership style looks like. I mean, we talked about last week, our first episode was on the inauguration day of, of our new president. And that's important now we've, we've gone through a rough patch and there's been of, of government and businesses, et cetera. So individuals are looking for great leadership and they want to see them. They actually want to see them on social media more than they ever did before.

Speaker 1 (12:52):

Right? Because we all talk about leading with authenticity, leading with your values. And that often is a top-down situation. And so hearing from the CEO who is the face of the company can be more and more important. So customer service in 2021 is going to be the big swing factor,

Speaker 2 (13:10):

You know, and this is where you're going. Your competitive advantage is going to kick in. If you have other elements that you working on within your company or your department, your structure, make sure you start with the customer service component, because that will also feed you new product opportunity, which is actually going to lead us to next week's episode.

Speaker 1 (13:30):

You know, I'm interviewing the CEO of mm, LaFleur coming up in March. And, um, one of the things that she talks about in several interviews is that she had racks and racks of dresses, but didn't know how to move that inventory. And when she went out to market and started surveying the women, the working women that you wanted to service, she found it's not like women didn't want these dresses. They just didn't have time to shop. So there was the market opportunity. If she could rise to the occasion and figure out a way to push these dresses in a customized way to her, you know, working woman base, that was the pain point that she needed to service. Not that people needed dresses.

Speaker 2 (14:07):

I think it's wonderful that those individuals who will listen to the customer, they have really opened up new opportunities in terms of, um, distribution and opportunity. And that's, that's a beautiful story in terms of what other individuals can learn from that. Right.

Speaker 1 (14:22):

Kathy, what are we talking about next week? Next week? We're already in the episode three of season three.

Speaker 2 (14:27):

Okay. We're going to talk about strategic point of product and service development. And you just opened up that conversation through, um, you know, your talk, that's going to happen there in March. And that is how do we create new products? What are some of the new services? We saw that in terms of new business opportunities last week, and then we're going to look a little deeper into some of the companies that are bringing those products and services besides masks to market.

Speaker 1 (14:55):

Well, as somebody who has been sick and had COVID believe me, when I tell you that I'm paying more close attention to the kind of mask that I'm wearing, because not all of them are necessarily, uh, keeping you safe.

Speaker 2 (15:07):

That's for sure. We were going to learn a lot more about these masks as we go forward.

Speaker 1 (15:11):

All right, Cathy folks want to work with you? How do they get in touch with you?

Speaker 2 (15:15):

They can email me at Stuart, Kathy S T U a R T K a T H I e@gmail.com or telephone me directly at six Oh nine nine three three seven 600.

Speaker 1 (15:28):

Yeah. I wonder if people are like calling you just because they want to see if you actually pick up,

Speaker 2 (15:33):

Can do that.

Speaker 1 (15:34):

And if you want to get in touch with me, all you got to do is email me@infoatladydrinks.com. That is the name of my women's, uh, leadership platform. And I'd love to be able to see you work with you. I'm hosting a public speaking masterclass coming up on February 17th. If you'd like to join, just email me there and Kathy, I'll see you next week.